I hear many talking about adjusting their timing most sounding like its just a normal thing for them to mess with all the time. I have never dealt with timing although I do own a timing gun. I just have never used it or know how to use it. The car is acting pretty sluggish and when decelerating you notice the car jumping a little bit, and also does the same when driving at a constant speed. It is not very much but it is noticeable. I have given this car a tuneup, replaced all the filters and so on, plus there are 2 people who think its possible that the car may need to be re-timed. So the question is, do you guys think the car is out of time and if so how do I check or fix this problem? If you can tell me step by step on what exactly I need to do it would be very helpful.

 

first, the shop manual is actually pretty clear, and its @ www.foxed.ca so when in doubt....

so step one, is to find the timing marks on the main pulley, there are two notches on the pulley, one for leading one for trailing. they both got pain marks, but the paint is usually gone by now.

there is also a little pin on the front cover, kind of over the pulley, if you're on the distributor side, it should be pretty clear (the shop manual has pics). when the engine is turned clockwise (the direction it normally turns) the mark that appears first is the LEADING mark, the second is the TRAILING. or if you're looking at both marks, the leading is on the right, and trailing is on the left.

now that you've found all the bits, hook up the timing light, for the LEADING side, you can use the L1 wire. if your timing light has an adjustable dial set it to zero.

now start the car, and at idle the pointer should line up with the leading mark. when you switch the light to the trailing, it should line up with the trailing mark.

the leading is more advanced than the trailing, so advancing the timing, is away from the trailing.

 

Okay I found out the timing and everything for this car, I just have no idea on how your supposed to tell the degrees it is set at already. Says on that site leading is 0 trailing is 20 but this gun just has a positive negative and a clip looking thing, how do you know the degree?

 

the leading notch in the pulley is 0 and the trailing notch in the pulley is 20

 

Looks like the first step is actually reading the instructions that came with the timing gun...

There are two notches on the e-shaft pulley (the big one at the bottom of the motor) and a metal pin that sticks out from the front cover, on the driver's side below the distributor. The two notches are supposed to be painted (yellow and red) to make them easier to see, but odds are the paint will be missing from yours.

When the engine is running fully warmed up at idle, with the pos and neg clips on the proper terminals of the battery, and the clamp on the L1 plug wire, pull the trigger on the light and shine it at the pin. You should see the leading (first, in direction of rotation) notch lined up below the pin.

When the clamp is on T1, you should see the second (trailing) mark lined up with the pin.

 

There is no telling how old this timing gun is lol. I just saw it sitting in the garage one day. But I will do it in the morning I am pretty sure this is the reason why my car is acting this way. I advanced it a little bit but being so dark outside I never bothered with the pulley but I did notice a huge increase in power and the car was easier to start. So tomorrow I will be able to time it the right way and see how much it helps it.

 

FYI, this is a lot easier to do when it's not full sun outside. Darkness makes reading the marking a LOT easier... provided you keep the cord out of the fanbelts.

Very hard to see the gun's flash in full sun outside.

 

Well... I got it a little closer after driving the car down the road close to 15 times but I know it is still not completely correct. I also couldn't figure out how to adjust the trailing time. The notches on my pulley are completely gone due to rust also. Now the car is jumping a little on slow acceleration.

Also saw that there is gas leaking into the carburetor. Can that be fixed with a rebuild or will I be forced into buying a new carburetor? I planned to get a Holley carburetor sometime in the future anyway but working with a tight budget, I don't really have over $500 to throw around. But luckly this car is not my source of transportation

 

Most carb problems can be cleaned up with a rebuild, short of very rare problems like a cracked mechanical part.

 

dude, read the shop manual, its really simple

www.foxed.ca

 

Run a search on this issue, it is fairly common.

 

I doubt your bucking is due to timing

 

It got more noticeable when I adjusted the timing, if it is not from timing what could it possibly be from? My car would be missing somehow I would assume but I just changed the plugs and wires a few days ago and the distributor cap and rotor is new. The only other thing may be the coil?